1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a system and method for performing automated data collection with a portable device and more specifically to a system and method for performing automated data collection relating to medical specimens with a portable device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the practice of medicine, it is often necessary to take specimens of a patient's body fluids or tissues for analysis in a laboratory to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. In the present method of obtaining fluid or tissue samples from a patient, the phlebotomist is provided with a paper list of patients and the type of samples that are to be taken from each patient. Many laboratories produce these lists from a computer based automated information management system that controls the flow of data within the laboratory. However, all of the advantages of such a system are not available to the phlebotomist who does not have access to the system as he moves throughout the hospital collecting the required samples. Were such access available, it would be possible to automatically identify the correct patient and be certain of obtaining all of the desired specimens. In addition, any notes or changes to test orders could be directly entered without the need for manual transcription and later entry into the laboratory information system. Thus, the need exists for a portable hand-held device that will interface with the laboratory information system and will provide the phlebotomist both with the laboratory information system data which is pertinent to the collection of samples from patients and the ability to enter data directly into the portable hand-held device for later processing by the laboratory information system.